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Friday, March 10, 2017

Grand Parkway helps fuel northwest Houston development boom

By Tamra Santana

Now open for roughly one year, the northern loop of the
Grand Parkway continues fueling economic growth in the region, with developers
scrambling to fill demand for a booming population.

"The Grand Parkway has and will be the major driver for
mobility and development growth in the region," said Keith Simon,
executive vice president of CDC Houston, developers of Springwoods Village.

The opening of the Grand Parkway has helped to speed the region's
growth, including new business, retail, housing and health care developments.

Springwoods Village master-planned community, located in
northern Harris County, continues to develop with two new corporate offices
under construction and new retail opening this summer.

"Springwoods Village has and will continue to serve as
an important economic development catalyst for northwest Houston," Simon
said. "It has helped to stimulate the construction of the Grand Parkway by
bringing the ExxonMobil campus to the community and by donating of 125 acres of
land for Grand Parkway right-of-way."

In addition, the Grand Parkway is also a driver of new hotel
projects in northwest Houston, said Barbara Thomason, president of the Houston
Northwest Chamber of Commerce. In particular, the area around Texas 249 and the
Grand Parkway is a hot spot, she said.

Hotel growth continues off Texas 249 near Noble Energy and
Lone Star College-University Park, with a new Hyatt Place hotel off Louetta
Road.

Construction will start soon on a new full-service hotel in
Springwoods Village, with completion expected in late 2018. Two other hotels
are already open there, including the Residence Inn by Marriott Springwoods
Village and a Courtyard by Marriott in CityPlace.

Retail options are expanding for residents in northwest
Houston, as the new Grand Parkway Marketplace I nears completion.

All of the anchor stores, including Target, will open by the
end of March at the new center, which is located at Spring Stuebner and the
Grand Parkway. The 488,000-square-feet Grand Parkway Marketplace I is 80
percent leased, according to Rob Nadler, developer with Kimco Realty.

Due to the demand, Kimco Realty is also developing Grand
Parkway Marketplace II across the street from Grand Parkway Marketplace I.

Hobby Lobby and Academy Sports have signed a lease to be
anchor tenants there. Those stores will open in August or September. Grand
Parkway Marketplace II is 275,000-square-feet, and will build out as demand
warrants, Nadler said.

The Market at Springwoods Village, a 170,000-square-foot
shopping center located at the southeast corner of Holzwarth Road and the Grand
Parkway, is expected to open in August.

The Market is focusing on a mix of national, regional and
local retail. Other retailers will be announced this spring, said Vanessa
Barfuss, leasing agent for the project.

And the Grand Parkway is also fueling healthcare expansions.

Memorial Hermann built a new $168 million Cypress medical
campus on 32 acres on the northeast side of U.S. 290 and the Grand Parkway,
between Mason and Mueschke roads. The hospital opens March 31.

The new hospital is part of the health system's estimated
$1.2 billion regional development to respond to a booming region.

In addition, CHI St. Luke's Medical Center, located at the
corner of the new Grand Parkway and Holzworth Road, opened a $120 million
campus a year ago in Springwoods Village.

Housing also continues to boom in the region, fueled by the
Grand Parkway.

Toll Brothers and Texas-based Cernus Development are
building Woodson's Reserve, a new housing community close to Interstate 45 and
the Hardy Toll Road. The companies worked hard to select a location with direct
frontage on what will be the Grand Parkway to allow easy access to the Exxon
campus and employment hubs in The Woodlands, said Jim Jenkins, vice president
of master-planned communities for Toll Brothers.

Residential communities continue to develop in Springwoods
Village, including Harper Woods, which will develop through 2017.

Once complete, Springwoods Village is expected to be home to
between 35,000 to 40,000 employees and 5,500 residential units.

The Mark City Place apartments will open a leasing office in
April. The first apartments will be available in April.

There are about 750 residential units in Springwoods Village
thus far, ranging from luxury rental apartments to townhomes and single-family
homes, Simon said. Home prices range from the high $300's to the $700's.

New shopping centers:

The Market at Springwoods Village

Grand Parkway Marketplace I

Grand Parkway Marketplace II

New healthcare:

Memorial Hermann built a new $168 million Cypress medical
campus on 32 acres on the northeast side of U.S. 290 and the Grand Parkway.

CHI St. Luke's Medical Center, located at the corner of the
new Grand Parkway and Holzworth Road, opened a $120 million campus a year ago
in Springwoods Village.

New housing:

Toll Brothers and Texas-based Cernus Development are
building Woodson's Reserve, a new housing community close to I-45 and the Hardy
Toll Road.

Residential communities continue to develop in Springwoods
Village, including Harper Woods, which will develop through 2017.

Once complete, Springwoods Village is expected to be home to
between 35,000 to 40,000 employees and 5,500 residential units.

The Mark City Place apartments will open a leasing office in
April. The first apartments will be available in April